[SOLVED] Finally replacing my broken LGA 1366 with another higher spec one, will i need a windows re-install? OR any other bits of advice....

[Kenton82]

Hi guys. Some of you may remember I have an old 1366 socket rig. An i7 990X with an Asus GTX 1070. The old Asus Rampage ii Extreme board has never been right. The first two RAM slots have never worked. I have been eying up some of the last ASUS ROG Motherboards with 1366 sockets on fleabay, and all that is holding me back from installing is the thought of loosing all my software and possibly Windows in the process! This would not be problem in a newer system, but with this old girl , it worries me. The rig runs really well, but has been suffering with lag and rendering problems because it has a hard job reading the RAM, and RAM speeds because of the first two slots not being used. I am also running an SSD, so the data rate should be a tad bit quicker with a later board.
Is there anything i should know before doing the swap? ~My copy of Windows 10 Pro is registered, and activated.

Please see full specs in signature below.

I know this is an old rig. I have not put much money into it, but i would never be able to afford a new killer system! Just wanna keep it going at the maximum i can for as long as i can!

Thanks a lot for any help as usual you lot

Kenton

 

[Eximo]

Did you register the copy to an e-mail address? If so, you should be able to transfer it around.

If it is a retail copy, you should still be good for up to two transfers, though you may need to manually activate over the phone with MS.

If you registered to the system with an upgrade then it is now locked to the system.

If you are sticking with the same chipset, you might get away with simply swapping the boards. I had pretty good luck in moving from an Athlon X2 to an i7-950 and then later that system to an i7-4770k. Not the same OS across all three, I did a fresh install to SSDs between the 950 and 4770k. (These were all retail copies of Windows)

I have to say my Rampage III Formula also developed memory issues. Won't do triple channel anymore. Keep in mind that it could be the CPU that is the problem.

 

[Kenton82]

Did you register the copy to an e-mail address? If so, you should be able to transfer it around.

If it is a retail copy, you should still be good for up to two transfers, though you may need to manually activate over the phone with MS.

If you registered to the system with an upgrade then it is now locked to the system.

If you are sticking with the same chipset, you might get away with simply swapping the boards. I had pretty good luck in moving from an Athlon X2 to an i7-950 and then later that system to an i7-4770k. Not the same OS across all three, I did a fresh install to SSDs between the 950 and 4770k. (These were all retail copies of Windows)

I have to say my Rampage III Formula also developed memory issues. Won't do triple channel anymore. Keep in mind that it could be the CPU that is the problem.

Hey cheers for the reply. Yes, my copy of windows is indeed registered to my main Microsoft email addy. Yeah, still sticking with the same chipset. I did have an i7 950 before i had the amazing fortune to pick up the i7 990X for peanuts through a mate, so in doubt the CPU is the issue with the RAM - I had thought that before i changed from the i7 950!

I may just buy the (new - in box) Rampage III Extreme board i have seen. It should give me a few hop-ups over my current Rampage II Extreme.

I may also buy some more RAM and swap that out while im at it.

Any thoughts on the Rampage III Extreme board? And the Ideal / best RAM to go for?


Cheers again for the advise!

K

 

[Eximo]

I wouldn't recommend wasting that much money on a Rampage III Extreme. If you aren't using 80% of the fancy features you are just spending for no reason. Of course, finding boards that old is a bit tricky. I recommend considering a replacement, especially if you are considering getting new memory. Just add a CPU and you have a new core system.

6-cores 12 threads at 3.73 Ghz isn't exactly amazing. i7-8700 will do that, Ryzen 2600/3600 and the boards are cheap. 16GB of DDR4 memory isn't too hard to come by.

I suppose it comes down to how much you are planning to spend on an the board and memory.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($294.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $442.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-02 10:50 EDT-0400

Almost certainly require a full reinstall to get this working right though:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($148.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $298.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-02 10:51 EDT-0400

 

[Kenton82]

I wouldn't recommend wasting that much money on a Rampage III Extreme. If you aren't using 80% of the fancy features you are just spending for no reason. Of course, finding boards that old is a bit tricky. I recommend considering a replacement, especially if you are considering getting new memory. Just add a CPU and you have a new core system.

6-cores 12 threads at 3.73 Ghz isn't exactly amazing. i7-8700 will do that, Ryzen 2600/3600 and the boards are cheap. 16GB of DDR4 memory isn't too hard to come by.

I suppose it comes down to how much you are planning to spend on an the board and memory.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($294.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $442.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-02 10:50 EDT-0400

Almost certainly require a full reinstall to get this working right though:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($148.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $298.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-02 10:51 EDT-0400

Hey thanks again! And for the price lists! The upgrade (!?) I am putting together will not come to more than £100, so I am happy with doing just the board for now, maybe the RAM will be ok in another board.... I have not got the money to spend on any more gear, this has been a very cheap hobby for me for years now, so wont be giving up, or putting up now.

Cheers again for all your help, and i will be back to post my findings, and results!

K.

 

[Eximo]

If someone is offering a new in box Rampage III Extreme for less than £100 I would stay far away from it. If you are just talking about the memory...I don't know. Contemporary memory is worth replacing because a lot of them needed 1.65 volts to get going, so you can get DDR3 and DDR3L that will run at reasonable voltages to run in older systems.

I assumed you were spending closer to £300 on just the board. Even refurbs of Rampage V and VI are going for over $500 here. They were very high end boards. I can't find any III Extremes on the market at all.

Why I settled on the Formula and not the Extreme at the time, just a lot of extra stuff I had no use in paying for.